


Listen

by Bespokegarbage



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Crying, Deceit will be there eventually, Forests, Hurt/Comfort, Logan experiences a jump scare, Logan gets a cat, Logan gets lost in the woods, Logic | Logan Sanders Needs a Hug, Panic, Panic Attacks, Platonic Cuddling, Roman is a little mean, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, and he gets one, but not cause he wants to, but not for too long, is this angst?, no beta we die like men, seriously there's so much cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24620200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bespokegarbage/pseuds/Bespokegarbage
Summary: After Logan gets ejected from the SvS redux he winds up in the imagination, lost and alone. Remus finds him and catalyses some catharsis. And cuddles.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 24
Kudos: 129





	1. Logan gets lost

**Author's Note:**

> A few things:  
> 1\. This is my first fanfic. fair warning (I've also only written scientific reports for the last 2 years)  
> 2\. If you will kindly disregard the fact that Logan pops back up in the middle of SvS redux that would be great.  
> 3\. Everyones OOC, I'm sorry, I tried
> 
> tw: panic, Remus, Swearing

“So Thomas is –”  
He feels a violent tug on his side, a cane appearing from out of his peripheral vision. Losing his footing, he is flung to the side. As he hurtles towards the wall, he tries to cover his face desperate to avoid breaking his glasses. The wall speeds towards him and he clenches his eyes shut. Then, suddenly he passes through the wall and falls down into the darkness.

Crashing through a canopy of tall trees, Logan can feel slim branches whipping his forearms and his face as he speeds towards the ground. Then, with a heavy thud he crashes through the underbrush and onto the forest floor. A little dazed, Logan sits upright and moves to lean against the nearest tree. With shaking hands, he reaches up and adjusts his tie and straighten his glasses. The familiar gestures calm him enough to properly take in his surroundings. 

The darkness around him is impassive, and he swallows reflexively, running his hands through his hair. Taking a deep breath, he stands, bracing himself against a nearby tree. Assessing the state of his body, Logan notes that he has no grievous injuries. As he peers into the darkness, Logan can’t see any clear method to get back to the apartment, or at least to get back to a more friendly part of the mindscape. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the best thing to do when you are lost in the woods is to stay put and wait for someone to rescue you. Logan dismisses this as a viable option, as he is fairly certain that no one would be looking for him anyways. With that option dismissed, Logan considers his alternatives. Logan briefly ponders the odds of him being able to find his way out of the imagination on his own and acknowledges that the odds are quite slim. He ignores the feeling of panic that wells at the thought. 

The darkness seems absolute and Logan can hear the sound of animals moving throughout the underbrush. Picking a direction at random, he starts walking. The underbrush is thick, and the ground is uneven. Logan stumbles as he trips over a root that he didn’t see. Catching himself, he runs his hands through his hair once again. Taking a deep breath, he tries not to focus on the overwhelming darkness around him and keeps walking. 

Logan has been walking for what seems like hours. Time in the imagination is a fickle thing, and with the continuing darkness around him, Logan doesn’t have any means of estimating the passage of time. The noises from the underbrush leave him anxious and off kilter, starting at every small rustle. 

There’s a loud sound to the left of him as an owl bursts out of a nearby tree. He recoils, taking a step back. As he puts his foot down, he can feel his foot slipping down further than he expects. Off balance, he falls. Hitting the ground, he hears a crack and feels a sudden sharp pain in his ankle. Pulling gently on his leg, he muffles a whine of pain. His foot is stuck.

Lying on his back in the middle of the forest, Logan tries to comfort himself with facts. In 2012, there was 17.4 million acres of forest land in Florida. With the increase in Burmese Python populations in Florida, there have been a decrease of 99.3 % of raccoon sightings. 1 to 3 cases of rabies are reported in the US per year, however, it is virtually 100% fatal. 

The panicked feeling in his stomach and chest are boiling over as he lies on the ground helpless. Clenching his teeth, he desperately tries to keep his breathing under control, struggling to follow Virgil’s breathing pattern. Tears start prickling at his eyes, but he fights them down, blinking rapidly. 

His own breathing is loud in his ears, blocking out the sounds of the forest around him. He doesn’t notice the rustling of the underbrush from behind him until it is nearly on top of him. 

“Looks like I’ve found a little lamb that got lost in the woods”   
On a better day, Logan would have recognized the voice as Remus’. But it wasn’t a better day.

Heaving sobs start wracking his body and the control he had had over his breathing was immediately lost. His breath is racing. His entire body is shaking. Tears are streaming down his face.

“Shit” Remus looks down at Logan, panicking on the forest floor. Logan closes his eyes.

Moving quickly, he walks around to Logan’s side where he can be easily seen. Muttering out loud, Remus tries to remember what he knows about calming others.

“Logan it’s me, Remus. Do you know who I am?” Logan’s sobbing continues, but Remus can see Logan nodding slightly.

“Can you look at me?” Remus tries to keep his voice calm and steady. 

Logan’s eyes are tightly squished shut but Remus can see that he is shaking his head minutely. 

“Then can I help you sit up?” 

A second passes and Logan nods. Remus slowly places his hand on the other man’s shoulder, gently moving him until he is sitting upright. 

“Logan, I need you to breath with me ok?” 

Another nod. 

“Good, breath in for 1…2…3…4, hold your breath, 1…2…3…4…5…6…7, ok now out for 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8“ Remus keeps counting, occasionally mumbling “You’re doing great Logan. Just keep breathing.” Gradually, Logan’s breathing slows, evening out as Remus counts.   
Remus, deciding that he can move his attention from Logan for a little while, looks more closely at Logan’s surroundings. Nothing seemed to be overtly wrong but looking a little closer he notices that Logan’s foot is caught between two branches. 

“Damn Logan, you’re more stuck than the stick up Roman’s butt” Remus remarks. 

Logan lets out a weak laugh, finally opening his eyes and looking at the other man. He tries to quell the shaking of his hands by straightening his tie, cleaning his glasses, and when that doesn’t work, hiding them in his lap. “Yes, well it does seem that I have put myself into a rather unfortunate situation”

“Logan can I try to get your foot unstuck?”   
“Why are you asking me?”  
“I may be the duke, but I’m not a dick” Remus quirks his eyebrow and smirks.  
Logan blinks twice, and nods to acknowledge the statement. “Yeah Remus, go ahead”

Remus grabs his foot, trying not to jostle the leg too much. He has to gently twist Logan’s foot in order to get it out and despite his care, Logan still winces in pain. 

Examining Logan’s foot gently Remus says, “too bad Logan, I don’t think your ankle is broken.”

Before he could respond, Logan notices more rustling in the underbrush. Remus can feel him tense, looking up in response. Setting down Logan’s foot, Remus walks towards the rustling. Leaning down Remus stifles a laugh, noticing the small black kitten meowing at him from the bush. Grabbing the cat by the scruff of its neck, he turns and displays the kitten to Logan. Setting the little beast in Logan’s lap, Remus goes to sit by Logan’s feet. 

“You want to tell me what you’re doing in my neck of the woods?” 

Logan, who had been successfully distracted by the cat in his lap, bites his lip. His shoulders slump forward, and Remus is struck by how small he seems.

“In my endeavour to make my personality more palatable –”  
“Nice alliteration” Remus interjects.  
“During the last video I appeared as a text box to support each of the given arguments. Evidently, they did not find that I was helpful as they subsequently silenced or completely skipped my dialogue. In one of these instances, I was thrown into the imagination.” Logan’s face is a careful mask of indifference as he talks. He pets the cat curled up in his lap.

Reaching for his ever-present deodorant, Remus takes a bite while he mulls over the other side’s words. The distracting taste of his mildew deodorant almost makes him miss Logan’s next words.  
“Do you think that you could take me back to my room?” Logan’s voice is quiet and exhausted. 

Remus hums, nodding his head. Logan’s face relaxes in relief and he closes his eyes tiredly. Standing up, Remus dusts leaf litter off of his legs, walking over to stand by Logan’s shoulder. “May I pick you up?”  
“Pardon?” Logan looks confused.  
Raising an eyebrow, Remus gestures to Logan’s swollen ankle. Logan flushes, embarrassed at his oversight. Logan nods his permission and Remus places one arm behind his back and one under his knees. Logan holds on to the kitten in his lap, keeping her safe. Picking him up as carefully as he can, Remus settles Logan against him. Remus is overly warm, but Logan finds it comforting after the cool damp of the forest floor. 

“Hold on to your bits” Logan’s face crumples in confusion at Remus’ words but before he can respond, they are swept away by a gust of wind. Logan curls closer to Remus and clings to the kitten. The kitten’s plaintive meow is swept away by the swirling wind.

Then, the wind stops and they’re in Logan’s room. Remus looks around, surprised at how plain the room is. Placing Logan on the bed in the corner of the room he looks around at the grey walls, the standard Ikea bed and bookshelves.

“Your room is very plain”   
“I never felt it was necessary to decorate”  
“maybe not necessary, but fun? Absolutely.” Roman said with a wild grin. Continuing on he says, “do you trust me?”

Logan cocks his head, considering. Then, slowly, he nods. Still grinning, Remus snaps his fingers.

Logan’s room was transformed in an instant. The bed, which had once had a simple grey headboard and white sheets, was replaced with a wooden bedframe and soft blue comforter. Twined around the bedframe are small twinkle lights that glow softly. On the bed are a myriad of soft blankets and, curiously enough, several stuffed animals. On the roof above his bed, there are small glow in the dark stars. Logan stares at them in badly concealed awe. The kitten, getting bored of sitting in one place climbs to sit on Logan’s head.

Logan could feel the last dregs of adrenaline leaving his body as he stifled a jaw-cracking yawn. Remus, noting his exhaustion moved closer to Logan. Grabbing the kitten off of Logan’s head and placing her on the floor.

“Time to put on your pyjamas. Or get naked, I’m not picky” Remus winks jokingly at Logan. 

Logan wrangles the last of his energy to change into his pyjamas and slumps over on the bed. His eyes closed, he can feel Remus pressing something soft into his arms and placing blankets over him.

“Thank you” Logan murmurs as he slips gently into sleep.


	2. In which there is coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan goes to grab coffee from the kitchen and runs into Virgil. They hang out and Patton interrupts. Logan feels sad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for you comments and kudos! <3

Logan wakes up to find the kitten sleeping on his face. Carefully placing her next to him on the bed. He looks at the little fluffball blinking her big blue eyes.

“I suppose you need a name, don’t you” He speaks to the kitten, and she squeaks in response. Drumming his fingers on his leg, Logan considers his options.

“How about Marie?” He says to the kitten. She yawns and Logan figures that that is as close to agreement that he’s going to get. Stretching, he decides that now is the perfect time for some coffee. He swings his legs around to get out of bed and stands, immediately tumbling to the ground, his ankle throbbing. Grabbing the edge of his bed, he clambers to his feet. Gingerly testing his weight on his sore leg, he figures that he can make it to the kitchen through a combination of A) leaning on various household objects and B) some undignified hopping. Making sure that he closes the door behind him and whispering a soft “Bye Marie” to his cat Logan makes his way gingerly to the kitchen.

Thankfully, no one else is in the kitchen and Logan hops up on to the kitchen counter to await the conclusion of the coffee machine’s routine. Still tired, Logan closes his eyes and leans back against the cabinets behind him. He lets the tension drop from his shoulders and sinks into the quietness of the morning. Humming slightly out of tune, Logan fails to notice Virgil walking into the kitchen. 

The bags under Logan’s eyes belie the serene nature of the scene in which Virgil finds himself. He pauses at the doorway, unsure if he wants to disrupt the private moment. But for the moment, his need for caffeine outweighs his anxiety of disrupting Logan. Clearing his throat, he walks into the kitchen.

If he is being quite honest Logan jumps when Virgil clears his throat, startling him. This has the unfortunate consequence of hitting his heel against the cabinets, causing Logan to let out a low whine of pain as he jars his injured ankle.

Virgil, hearing the sound of pain, quickly becomes concerned for his friend. Walking over to where Logan was sitting, he tried to assess his injuries. When did this happen? How did this happen?

“Virgil, I’m fine” Logan said, trying keep the look of pain off his face.  
“Bullshit” Virgil states matter-of-factly, “now tell me what’s wrong.”  
“It is only a twisted ankle from a mishap when we were filming yesterday. I simply have not had the opportunity to tend to it yet”  
Virgil rolls his eyes lovingly at his friend’s obvious attempt to get him to drop the matter. Summoning a tensor bandage and several cold packs, he places everything but the bandage on the counter. Gesturing at Logan to give Virgil his leg, Logan places his foot in Virgil’s open hand. Virgil methodically wraps the bandage around Logan’s ankle, and Logan is pleased to see that Virgil remembers some of the first aid that he had taught all of the sides. Once Virgil is done wrapping the bandage he nods at the cice packs on the counter.

“You should keep your foot elevated and put ice packs on it for 20 minutes every 2-3 hours” 

Logan hums noncommittally.

Virgil’s eyebrows furrow, and Logan wonders if he has done something wrong. The chime of the coffee machine finishing distracts both of them momentarily. Letting go of Logan’s foot, Virgil grabs two mugs from the cabinet. Filling them both with strong black coffee, he passes one of the mugs, the one that had stars printed all over it, to Logan and stands in front of him. 

“You have two options Logan, one” he counts on his fingers “you can take today off and your ankle will almost certainly feel better. Or two, you can push yourself to work today and be injured for longer. Which is the more logical option?” 

Logan tries not to look like he is pouting.

“So, what do you suggest that I do with my day off” Logan says with a raised eyebrow.  
“Read a book while we both drink our coffee together in silence?” Virgil suggests.

“I don’t suppose that you would mind retrieving my book from my room for me?” he nods at his foot “I seem to be rather immobile”  
Virgil stifles a huff of laughter and nods. He turns, walking out of the kitchen.

Logan’s room was different from the last time he had been in it. Looking around, Virgil spots Logan’s book sitting on his bedside table. He goes and grabs the book, a novel on the use of poisons in Agatha Christie novels, and notices the kitten sleeping on Logan’s bed. Bouncing on the balls of his feet he reaches over and scoops up the small kitten. She looks disgruntled for a second, but then accepts her new vantage point. With a laugh, he notices the stuffed animals scattered across Logan’s bed and with a cheeky smile grabs the fuzzy spider. 

Returning to the common area he can see that Logan had moved to the large couch in the living room. He walks over and sits beside Logan on the back of the couch.  
“Found your friend” he says, placing her on Logan’s lap, along with the spider stuffed animal and his book.  
“She is a cat. She cannot be my friend” Logan’s crisp rejoinder is at odds with the gentle way that he is scratching under her chin. “Her name is Marie.”  
“Have you fed her?”  
“Not yet” Logan summons a food and water dish, both blue and decorated with little white fish, and places them on the floor.

Virgil lets the conversation lapse into silence as Logan concentrates on his book, occasionally sipping his coffee. Pulling his feet up on to the couch Logan curls up with the stuffed spider between his legs and chest. He feels a twinge of pain in his ankle but ignores it. Virgil watches Logan for a little while, but then starts playing a game on his phone to pass the time. Marie hops off of Logan’s lap, and starts eating out of her dish. 

“Hey Kiddos!” Patton exclaims a little while later as he bounces into the room and lets out an ear-piercing screech when he spots the kitten on the floor. Both Logan and Virgil jump at the sound, Virgil nearly falling off the couch. Patton conjures a laser pointer, excitedly waving it around for Marie to chase. Her pupils widen dramatically, and she immediately started chasing the little red laser. 

“What’s her name!” Patton’s loud voice makes Virgil wince. Logan wants to chime in and answer Patton’s question, he opens his mouth to answer, but he hesitates. Patton had already demonstrated that he didn’t want to listen to Logan, Logan closes his mouth.

The silence stretches uncomfortably, and Virgil fidgets with the strings of his hoodie.

“Marie” Logan’s voice is soft and hesitant.

“Oh! Isn’t she a scientist? I’d better check her out on my lab-top” Patton winks.  
“Marie Curie received the Nobel prize for Chemistry in–”  
“What a sweetheart!” Patton interrupts, having moved to pet Marie “where did you get her?”  
“I –" Logan starts  
“Look at her tiny little paws! She’s just Purr-fect” he interrupts again, as Marie tries to climb up on to the couch and into Logan’s lap. Noticing that he is curled up tightly, she lets out a plaintive meow and climbs up the back of the couch to sit on his shoulder. 

Finally noticing the bandage wrapped around Logan’s ankle, Patton frowns in concern. 

“What happened Logan?” Patton asked, concern colouring his voice.  
“A mishap, nothing more” Logan said, his face a blank mask of indifference.

Roman entering the room kept Patton from questioning Logan any further. “How do you do Patton, Dork, Virgil?” 

Virgil and Patton both respond with vague affirmative statements while Logan simply nods. Roman strides over to the kitchen and begins opening various cabinets. The other three hear swearing, and the crashing of dishes falling off of shelves.

“Patton where are the Pop-Tarts?” Roman calls loudly over the crashing.  
“I better go help him” Patton worries for the state of the kitchen.

Logan grabs Marie off of his shoulder and gathers his book, stuffed animal, and cat to beat a hasty retreat to his room, forgetting that his foot was still injured. Virgil rushes to steady him as he stumbles.  
“You need some help?” Virgil grabs the book out of Logan’s hands with his free one. Logan nods and they make their way back to his room. Awkwardly they stand outside of Logan’s room until finally Logan speaks. “Do you want to watch a movie with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Logan lets everyone think that Marie is named after Marie Curie but she's actually named after one of the kittens from the Aristocats.


	3. in which they watch several movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cuddles, movies, feelings
> 
> tw Remus, swearing

They end up sitting on Logan’s bed trying to decide on what movie to watch. Logan sits in the corner made by the headboard and the wall, while Virgil squats next to him, fiddling with the stuffed octopus he finds on Logan’s bed. Marie, who had gotten tired of being petted, squirms off of the bed and into her cat bed.

“How about an animated movie?” Virgil suggests, opening up Logan’s laptop and minimizing the many tabs of research Logan has open.  
“I have been meaning to watch ‘Isle of dogs’? I think that you would also find it enjoyable”  
“What’s it about?”  
“A child goes to look for his dog, on the island where all dogs have been transported to after being outlawed. Once there, he joins forces with some of the dogs already on the island and they journey to find his dog”  
“Sounds interesting”  
Virgil pulls the movie up on the computer and settles the computer on the bed. As he is about to press play, they hear the gusting of wind. Remus appears in the middle of Logan’s room. 

“Remus?” Virgil says, “what are you doing here?”  
“Oh, nothing malicious my dear, I just came to check on the little lamb after his misadventure in the woods” 

“Logan?” Virgil frowns and looks at him. Logan’s eyes are firmly focused on his lap, he is clenching his hands tightly, painfully.  
“You didn’t tell him? How deceitful of you” Remus chuckles gleefully.

Logan spoke quickly, he just wanted to get this over with “Yesterday when we were filming, I appeared as a text box so as to minimize the intrusiveness of my presence. Neither Patton nor Roman thought this was particularly useful and, on a couple occasions, silenced me. The second time that his happened, I was ejected from the common space and flung into the Imagination. This was how I hurt my ankle, trying to return to the mindscape. Remus found me and returned me to my room. That is what happened.” Logan’s eyes were still focused on his lap.  
“Can’t forget about the crying and panicking Lo-Lo” Remus’ tone was teasing but it was easy to spot the concern in his eyes. 

Logan sighs tiredly “Yes, this particular misadventure also involved some panicking and crying.”

Virgil observes Logan closely “why didn’t you tell me?”  
“I don’t know? I um, didn’t want you the think badly of Patton and Roman I think” Logan refuses to look up.  
“Honey if you wanted to keep it a secret then you should’ve just stayed in your room.” Remus chimes in unhelpfully from where he is standing.  
“Can we just stop talking about it and watch the movie? Remus if you wish to join us then you are welcome to, I think you would enjoy it” Logan chanced a glance upwards, first at the laptop screen, at Remus, then back to his lap. “If that is all right with you Virgil.” 

Virgil considers, he and Remus had a tendency to play off of each other in the worst way sometimes, but he knew that having him around would likely be the only way to get any more information about Logan’s adventure, and really he wasn’t that bad. He nods his assent and Remus climbs on the bed next to Logan, between him and the headboard. This left Logan squished uncomfortably against the wall. 

“Come cuddle with me Lo-Lo” Remus winks, “I don’t bite unless you ask me to” and Logan laughs. Once Remus settles, He pulls Logan away from the wall and lets him lean against Remus, placing his arm around Logan’s shoulders. Virgil looks surprised at the care that Remus was taking with Logan and inches closer to sits down fully on the bed. Summoning a cold pack, he gently grabs Logan’s leg and pulls it on to his own legs, placing the ice pack on the injured ankle. Logan settles into the physical contact and presses play on the movie.

For the first 20 minutes or so Logan focuses on the movie but the warmth of Remus and Virgil next to him and the residual exhaustion from the day before lulls him into a light doze and, eventually, into sleep.

Virgil and Remus notice that Logan had fallen asleep when he stops responding to their comments about the movie. Virgil pauses the movie and turns to face Remus, careful not to disturb Logan. He opens his mouth, but Remus beats him to the chase.

“I found him lying on the forest floor, his foot was stuck. I must have surprised him because when I popped out of the bushes, he started panicking. I managed to calm him down somewhat and un-stick his foot, found a kitten, and brought him back here. Redecorated a little, then put him to bed.”  
Virgil huffs “Why do you care?”  
“Bored” Remus replied flippantly  
“That’s a lot of effort for something you’re doing cause you were bored”  
Remus doesn’t answer, he just unpauses the movie. 

Logan wakes up when the credits roll. Sleepily sitting up, Logan stretches and retrieves his legs from Virgil’s lap. He laughs lightly “I guess I still need to watch Isle of dogs”  
Virgil rolls his eyes “I’ll watch it with you when you’re not so tired Lo”  
“So will I,” Remus adds “you were right, It was almost as good as pickled poo logs”  
“I’m going to take that as a compliment” Logan smiles.

There’s a knock at the door, “I think that’s my cue to leave” with a gust of wind Remus disappears. Virgil and Logan look at one another. There’s another knock at the door. Virgil gestures at Logan to go open the door.

Logan hobbles his way over to the door and opens it to find Patton, his hand poised to knock a third time. Patton looks surprised to see him, like he didn’t expect Logan to open the door.  
“Can I come in?”  
Logan blinks, then nods, backing away from the door. Logan returns to the bed, sitting next to Virgil.  
“Oh! Hey Vee, how are you?”  
“ ’m good, how are you?”

Patton hums “ok I think, that last episode was pretty stressful” Patton gave a wan smile “actually that’s what I wanted to talk to you about Logan?” he turns to face Logan. “I think I owe you an apology. Our last video… it really upset me, made me re-examine some things that I thought I knew. It was hard. I didn’t want to listen to you because even if you were just stating facts, it felt like you were shaking what should have been a solid foundation. I just want you to know that I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I owed you an explanation. I’m sorry.” Patton stands awkwardly in the middle of the room, waiting for something, anything to happen.

“Patton I –“ Logan runs his hands through his hair, “I require time. I understand that this was a stressful and upsetting situation, but your actions hurt me. I want to be your friend. This I know. But I also know that I should be listened to. Just like you should be listened to, like Virgil and Remus should be listened to, like Roman and Janus should be listened to. I accept your apology, but I need you to try to listen to what I am saying from now on. If you fail, that is fine, so long as you recognize your mistakes, learn, and grow from them.” 

“Ok Logan, I understand.” Patton fidgets and turns towards the door.  
“Patton wait,” Logan walks over to Patton and awkwardly puts his arms around him “thank you for apologizing” Patton hugs Logan back and squishes his cheek against Logan’s hair. After a few seconds, Logan starts squirming, so Patton lets him go. Logan steps back, a light flush on his face. Patton smiles at him then leaves the room.

Logan sighs and his shoulders slump. “Why is dealing with emotions so difficult?”  
Virgil hums as Logan makes his way back to the bed, climbing up next to Virgil.  
“Lo, come here” Virgil guides Logan to sit between his legs and lean back against him. Virgil rests his chin on Logan’s head, “I’m sorry that you felt like that.”  
“You were not the one to cause me pain, why should you be sorry?”  
“Because the situation made you feel shitty, and that sucks, so I’m sorry” Virgil grabs the laptop “you wanna watch a documentary about penguins?”


	4. the one before things get worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whole new worlds is a parody of a bunch of songs from Aladdin that show the discovery/search of/for exoplanets. Sorry its been a hot second, I got really busy and didn't have time to edit.  
> tw: swearing

Virgil heads back to his room shortly after they finish the documentary, needing a few hours by himself. Logan waves as Virgil retreats to the shadowy recesses that mark his room and finds himself alone. He could read more of his book, but Logan can feel the weight of his missed work piling up on him. He knows that he promised Virgil that he wouldn’t work today, but realistically, all he’d be doing was sitting at his desk. There’s no way that he could hurt his ankle more doing that, right? 

Logan gets lost in his work. Occasionally he feels the pang of hunger or thirst in his stomach, but he ignores it in favour of reworking the newest iteration of the schedule. Marie, the attention sponge, is usually content to lay in his lap, but occasionally she will jump on to the desk and lie across his laptop. Logan squints at the screen enough that by the time Patton fetches him for dinner he can feel a headache building behind his eyes. 

“I don’t think Vee will be joining us for dinner tonight” Patton says cheerfully as they walk downstairs to the kitchen.  
“No, I do not believe so, he said that he was going to go take a nap the last time we talked.” Logan’s foot only gives an occasional twinge of pain as they walk.  
“How was your movie? What was it you watched?”  
“We watched a documentary about the life cycle of penguins, it was quite fascinating”  
“Awww that’s good, penguins are so cute”

Once they reach the living room Patton goes to grab the food out of the kitchen while Logan sets the table. Fastidiously placing the forks and knives down next to each of the plates, Logan can hear Roman chatting with Patton in the kitchen. Logan hums the tunes of Whole New Worlds as he sets the last of the cutlery down.   
“Is that Aladdin I hear?” Roman walks in carrying a bowl of salad.  
“Not exactly—”  
“I love that movie, I do think that Aladdin shouldn’t have lied to Jasmin, that seemed –” Patton walks into the room and notices the crestfallen expression on Logan’s face. “Sorry Lo, you were saying?”  
“It is a—”   
“Disney movies are all about the intense _emotions_ Patton, I don’t think Pocket Protector can really comment” Roman sits on his chair and pops his feet up on Virgil’s chair across from him.  
Logan bites his lip and sits down at the table.  
“That’s not fair Ro, I’m sure Lo’s got an opinion about Disney, I mean it’s Disney!” Logan sits at the table, bringing the casserole dish of Mac and Cheese with him.  
“I find it interesting that a lot of the classic Disney heroes have an American accent, whereas a lot of their villains have accents from other regions”  
“That’s not an opinion about the movies” Roman comments dryly.  
“But it is interesting to think about isn’t it!” Patton serves himself some food “Did you learn anything else cool today Lo?”  
“I learned that in addition to prefixes and suffixes, there are also infixes which get included in the middle of a word to change its meaning. This does not occur in English –”  
“Then why is it important” Roman looks a little grumpy.  
“With the exception of expletive infixation” Logan makes air quotes around the words, expletive infixation “which is when a swear word is inserted in the middle of another word.”  
“Abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous” Roman looks bored “who would study that?”  
“Actually –”  
Roman rolls his eyes and interrupts by recounting his most recent monster fighting escapade. Logan feels like his heart is sinking and he can’t help the tears welling up in his eyes. He can tell that Patton is looking at him in concern, but he hopes that Roman doesn’t notice. Drumming his fingers against his thigh, he swallows down his tears. Scooping food on to his plate he eats his meal mechanically, focusing on his plate. Logan glances up occasionally whenever Patton asks him a question, but he only responds with one or two words. Logan can see Patton getting more and more concerned as the meal goes on. Then, mercifully, the meal is done.   
“I’ll help you clean up Patton” Logan says softly, gathering plates and cutlery.   
“Au revoir mes amis” Roman waves as he leaves the room. Logan brings the plates over and puts them next to the sink. He leans against the counter taking a moment just to breathe.  
“Logan” Patton touches him gently on the arm. Logan shivers and turns to face Patton.  
“Yes Patton?”  
“That seemed rough Lo, do you want to talk about it?”  
“Perhaps later” Logan looks at Patton “Is there anything you would like to talk about?”  
“I –” Patton sighs “I don’t know Logan. I really don’t know. Everything is so complicated now. Sometimes I just wish it was simple.”  
Logan was at a loss for words.   
“Patton, I am not good at being comforting, but I’d like to say that… I’m sorry that you feel shitty”  
Patton smiles at him sadly. “Hug?” Patton asks. Logan nods, and wraps his arms around Patton. They hug for a long time, each taking comfort in the presence of the other. When they finally pull away from one another Patton offers his pinky finger to Logan. Logan tilts his head.  
“I know you know what a pinky swear is Logan” Patton gestures to him to wrap his pinky around Patton’s. “I’m here if you need someone to listen Logan.” Logan twines his pinky with Patton’s.  
“As am I”   
Patton breaks their pinkies apart, a small, genuine smile on his face. “I was going to bake cookies tonight. Would you like to help?”

Logan falls asleep that night smelling warm cookies and cuddling a little frog stuffed animal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Logan doesn't get to say it but there's actually a fair amount of papers on expletive infixation. I'm a big nerd about linguistics so unfortunately you also get to hear about it. 
> 
> Sources:  
> https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/popcult/handouts/wenkeric.htm  
> https://www.jstor.org/stable/413849?casa_token=57jHItLw_H4AAAAA%3AjhFQ_QTxyzDwCC0S4Lon5miEKv_1DD9Mm8NFhg9JmNbQs5jUKx4DqIkjdrUR4J8y7sQJSZzYdvFWF4hNhqS0FNTcRDOd6nXPlNmXiMzWh_zwChW2RUbM&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents


	5. the one where things get worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im a little sorry about this one.  
> If you were wondering about (some of) what I usually listen to while writing: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7wakVqbip5Z55QONSfZJ7w?si=hcxJtX6uRSC1gFYU2goWhQ

Logan thinks that today will be a good day. He wakes up feeling refreshed, content. Setting out dishes for Marie, he heads to the kitchen to grab some coffee. For the most part, he works quietly at the kitchen table with occasional interruptions from Patton asking if he can play with Marie and Virgil refilling his coffee or shoving food in front of his face. By mid-afternoon, Logan’s work is mostly done for the day and he decides that he can take a break.

Walking to his room, he grabs his book and looks around for Marie. He can’t see her anywhere in the room, so he assumes that Patton is still playing with her. He returns to the living room and settles on the couch, diving into his book. A short while later he notices Marie wandering into the room and climbing the cat tree in the corner.

Logan gets lost in his book, completely tuning out the world around him. He doesn’t realize that Roman is in the room and talking to him until “Logan have you even been listening to a word I’ve been saying?” Startled, Logan looks up at Roman “I’m sorry Roman I – “   
“So you weren’t listening to me?”  
“No, I – “  
Roman laughs “You know what Logan?” Roman walks closer, “You want so badly to be listened to, but you don’t listen yourself. Look at yourself, you haven’t even been working while ignoring me, you’re so _useless_.”  
“I am not –”  
“You think that all your research will make us like you? That your fun facts make up for the fact that you’re boring?”  
“I thought –"  
“That’s just it, you don’t think. If you could think, you would realize that you hate the fact that Thomas listens to us more than you. You’re jealous.”  
“I am not jealous I –” Logan sputters.  
“Always on about facts and logic. Take that away what are you?” Roman pauses “I’ll tell you what. You’re nothing.”  
“Listen Roman –”  
“No Logan. You listen.”  
The room is dead silent. Logan looks completely stunned. He can feel his chest tighten and tears well in his eyes. 

“Hey Guys! Guess what? I started teaching Marie to walk on a leash today!” Patton skips into the room. Noticing the frigid atmosphere in the room he says, “Logan, Roman, is everything all right?”  
“Everything is fine Patton” Logan’s voice sounds rough.   
“Are you sure Lo?” Concern is written across Patton’s face.  
Roman scoffs and leaves the room, leaving Logan alone with Patton. Patton walks towards Logan and sits next to him on the couch. He offers his pinkie to Logan silently urging him to say or do anything. Logan looks at Patton and wraps his pinkie around Patton’s.  
“Everything is fine Patton.” Logan smiles, “it is fine.”  
Logan stands and shoves his hands in his pockets. Keeping his head down he walks quickly out of the room. As he makes his way back to his room, he runs into Virgil. He bangs his shoulder against Virgil’s and Virgil recoils. Logan turns to face Virgil, pulling his hands out of his pockets and reaching out to Virgil. Virgil can see his hands shaking.  
“Sorry Virgil I didn’t mean to…” Logan trails off.   
“Hey Lo, are you ok? You look” Virgil looks him up and down “shaky.”  
“I’m fine, everything is fine, I’m fine”  
“Hey Lo, I need you to take a deep breath for me ok?”  
Logan nods jerkily then takes a slow breath, then another, then another. “Thank you for your help Virgil, I must be going now”  
“Logan…”  
Logan turns and continues walking. He ends up curled in his bed staring at the wall. He left his book and laptop in the living room so he can’t even distract himself with work or leisure. He lays there and at first, he feels numb, but eventually the ice in his chest thaws and he cries quietly into the darkness. Logan thought that today would be a good day. He was wrong.

When Remus shows up, Logan doesn’t try to stifle his sobs. Turning on a light, Remus can see that Logan hadn’t even bothered to take off his shoes or change into something more comfortable.   
“Hey Lo-Lo, why don’t you change into your pyjamas?”   
Logan mechanically gets up and changes his clothing. Remus grabs a couple of blankets off the bed, wrapping them around Logan and making a Logan burrito. Picking Logan up and plopping him on the bed, he summons his headphones and phone.   
“Where did you leave your laptop Lo-Lo?”  
“Kitchen”   
“Ok, I’m going to go grab it. Would you like to listen to some music while I’m gone?” Remus can see Logan deliberate, then nod. He puts his headphones over Logan’s ears and puts on some music. He turns and leaves the room, leaving Logan on the bed.

Making his way stealthily to the kitchen, he spies the laptop on the table. Grabbing the laptop, he notices Patton and Virgil talking quietly in the living room.   
“What’re y’all talking about?” Remus walks over “something bad I hope”  
“What are you doing here?” Patton gets straight to the point “Has he told you what happened?”  
“Maybe he has, maybe he hasn’t” Remus says flippantly “what’s it to you?”  
“I just want to make sure he’s ok”  
“You didn’t do anything to get his panties in a twist?” Remus looks at him suspiciously.  
“Not that I’m aware of” Patton chews his lip. “I walked in on Roman and him arguing earlier, it looked serious”  
“He ran into me when he was leaving” Virgil says, fidgeting with his hoodie strings “he didn’t look particularly good”  
“I’ll be right back” Remus says, “stay here”

When Remus walks back into Logan’s room, he finds Logan sitting exactly where he left him. Noticing that Remus has returned, Logan worms his arms out of the blankets and takes off the headphones. Remus drops Logan’s laptop on the bed.  
“Change of plan. How do you feel about having a movie night with Virgil and Patton tonight?” Logan shrugs as Remus continues “If you don’t want to watch the movie, you can listen to music and just hang out with us.” While Logan thinks, Remus changes into his pyjamas, a violently green tank top and sweatpants with creepy written across the back. Once done, he sits on Logan’s desk and plays with the Rubix cube that he finds there. After a few minutes he hears “Yeah,” Logan sniffles “ok.”   
Remus walks over and put his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “It’ll be ok Logan,” then he scoops Logan up into his arms.  
“I am able to walk” Logan says dryly.  
“Sure you can, but what if I want to carry you?” Remus starts walking.  
“Oh, my hero” Logan rolls his eyes “When did you become so friendly with Patton and Virgil?” Logan asks as Remus walks to the living room.  
“Misery makes strange bedfellows Lo-Lo”  
When they get to the living room Remus pops Logan, in all his blanket-clad, tear-stained glory, onto the couch and announces that they’re watching a movie. Virgil and Patton open their mouths to ask questions, but Remus shakes his head. They choose a movie, and it’s fun even if Patton has to cover his eyes at anything remotely scary happens and Remus gets a little bored and starts dismantling finger puppets in increasingly gruesome manners and when Virgil nearly falls off the couch when he guesses a plot twist. No one comments when Logan starts crying again, they just move closer and offer their silent support.


	6. The one where Janus appears briefly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done!

No one sees Logan for a few days. Patton keeps placing food down outside his door, and by the next time that he walks past the door it is gone. Patton thinks that he’s eating or, he hopes that he’s eating. After a week of this, Patton knows that they need to do something. So Patton does something that he never thought he would do, he goes to talk to Janus.

Going to the other side of the mindscape is always a little odd. Often you can find some of Remus’ creations roaming the halls. One memorable time, there was a seemingly normal dog that just had a bunch of knives taped to it. But nonetheless, Patton perseveres. He walks through the shadowy hallways, jumping at anything vaguely spider shaped. Eventually he reaches Janus’ door, an ornately carved oak affair. Patton knocks on the door and he can hear Janus moving around, but the door doesn’t open.  
“Um… Janus? I need your help. Look, I know you and Logan don’t really get along, but he won’t talk to any of us and you have a remarkable ability to get to the heart of a problem. Could you try to… I don’t know… talk to him?”  
The door opens “I can try, but no promises.”  
“Thank you” The door closes in Patton’s face. 

Janus wonders what he should do. On one hand, he said that he’d try but on the other he didn’t want to. Pulling of a yellow legal pad and a feather pen he composes a note to Logan.

Logan,  
Your friends are worried enough about you to contact me. This isn’t a good sign, which means you need to talk to someone. If you would like someone more or less impartial, please drop by my room today at 4pm. If you don’t appear, I will assume that you will have talked to someone else. If you have not, and that results in someone appearing at my door again then you will be held accountable for this.  
Regards,  
Janus

Once Janus seals the letter into an envelope, he sends it to Logan, the letter disappearing in a puff of smoke. All there is to do now is wait.

At exactly 4 pm, Janus hears a knock at his door. Snapping his fingers, the door swings open and Janus can see Logan standing awkwardly in the doorway.  
“Step into my office Logan”  
Logan, his arms crossed in front of him, walks in and stands awkwardly by the opulent desk.  
“Sit”  
Logan reluctantly sits on the red velvet chair that is in front of the desk. It is overly soft, and he sinks into the plush fabric.  
“Why should I trust you.” Logan looks defiantly.  
“My dear, “Janus pauses and inspects his gloves, then looks up “you shouldn’t.”  
“Then why should I talk to you?”  
“Because you need to talk to someone, and you have apparently decided that it won’t be any of your actual friends.” He steeples his hands, “plus, they’ll probably think that anything I tell them is a lie”   
Logan looks at Janus, considering the possible outcomes of talking to him. Eventually, Logan decides that it will be better to talk to someone than not, and tells him the entire story. When he’s done, Janus looks at him taking it in. Opening a drawer, He pulls out a jug of grape juice, pours two glasses and offers one to Logan. Accepting the glass, Logan takes a sip.  
“This is wine”  
Janus sips his glass slowly, “yes, and a rather good vintage too.”  
Logan puts the glass back on the desk, waiting for Janus to say something. He can hear a clock ticking loudly in the background, and wonders if it is purely for dramatic effect.   
“Hear this Logan, and know I’m speaking the truth. You have worth. I know lies, and when Roman was spouting his vitriol, that was a lie. The thing you need to find out is why he was lying.”   
“Thank you, Janus,” Logan stands and leaves, making his way back to his room deep in thought.


	7. the one in which they start to get along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this'll be the last chapter, hope you enjoy it!

“Why are you doing that to Logan?” Asks Patton as he walks into to living room.  
“Doing what?” Roman looks up from his embroidery.   
“You clearly upset him”  
“I though pocket protector didn’t have any emotions”  
“Why do you keep doing that? You keep deflecting

“Why are you always taking his side Patton?” Roman yells, “we’re the emotional sides, he’s not like us.”  
“That doesn’t matter” Patton sounds outraged. 

Unbeknownst to Patton and Roman, Logan had slipped into the room while they yelled. “Patton,” Logan speaks up “you don’t need to do this.” Patton looks at Logan with fear and worry in his eyes. “I will be fine; I think that Roman and I need to have a conversation alone.”

Roman leers at Logan.

“Logan, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  
“Please Patton.” Logan looks calmly at Patton and walks over to him. He puts his hand on his shoulder and looks Patton in the eyes. “It will be fine” Patton looks sadly at him, but nods and leaves the room. Logan sighs and turns to face Roman. The silence lingers in the air, oppressive to the two people in the room.

“Roman, I’m sorry.” Roman looks flabbergasted at Logan’s words. “I think that in the past I have been dismissive of your value to Thomas. I should not have done so. You play an important role in Thomas’ life.” Logan takes a seat on the couch next to Roman. “When you cut me off, when you called me those names, it hurt. I wish you had talked to me before it got to a point where you felt it necessary to personally attack me. I don’t know if I can forgive you for your actions and I don’t know if you can forgive me for mine, but we need to try. I’m willing to try.”

“In fairy tales the hero is always forgiven at the end of the story” Roman sets down his embroidery next to him on the couch.  
“We don’t live in a fairy tale.”   
“I went too far?”  
“You did” Logan nods  
“I’m sorry. Can we try again?” Roman closes his eyes and tilts his head back.  
“Thank you for your apology.” They sit in silence for a few moments, Logan fiddling with a pen he found in his pocket, and Roman staring at the ceiling.

“What do we do now?”

“Why don’t we start with a truce.” Logan holds out his hand for Roman to shake.   
“Alright, truce” Roman looks him up and down and grabs his hand. After shaking his hand, Logan stands.  
“I had better go talk to Patton” Dropping Roman’s hand, he turns and walks to the door. As he is about to exit the room he turns back towards Roman, “if you need to talk to someone, I am happy to listen Roman” then he walks out of the room.

Logan knocks on Patton’s door. Almost immediately the door opens, and Patton walks out. He grabs Logan’s hands in his own.  
“Are you all right Lo?” Patton searches Logan’s face for any sign of pain or fear.   
“I’m all right,” Logan squeezes Patton’s hands. The tension drains out of Patton’s shoulders and he slumps.  
“I was so worried” Patton drops Logan’s hands and gently pulls him into a hug.  
“I’m all right” Logan’s voice is muffled from his face being pressed against Patton’s shoulder. Patton is warm, and his hoodie smells like cookies. Logan relaxes against him and closes his eyes, basking in the warmth.   
“Did your talk with Roman go ok?”  
“Yeah, we have come to an understanding,” Logan’s voice is still muffled, “we will be ok, but I would prefer to talk more in depth about it at a later time.”  
“Ok Lo” Patton smiles.

Hearing the sound of wind, Patton lets go of Logan and Logan turns to face Remus.  
“Howdy Lo-Lo.” Remus strides over and starts checking Logan for any signs of tears or injury. “You good?”  
Logan rolls his eyes fondly, “I’m fine Remus”  
“You talked to Roman?”  
“I did. We’ll be ok”  
“Good” Remus closes his eyes, “Or else I’d have to kick his a–” Remus sees Patton “butt, his butt” Logan laughs at Remus’ correction. “Whenever you’re ready to talk about it Lo-Lo, I’m here”  
“Thank you, Remus.”   
“Ok enough of this touchy-feely stuff, I’m going to go raid your fridge for Pop tarts” Remus turns on his heel and strides out of the hallway. Logan turns back to Patton.   
“I think that you should talk to Roman, Patton” Logan shoves his hands in his pockets.  
“Ok Lo, I’ll talk to him” Patton smiles and nods, “I’d better go. We’ll talk later though, right?” He offers his pinky to Logan.  
“We will” Logan wraps his pinky with Patton’s. Patton lets go of Logan’s pinky and walks off, humming a jaunty tune.

Logan sighs and steps back to rest against the wall. He closes his eyes and rests in the quiet hallway with his hands behind his back. Hearing someone clearing their throat, he starts and opens his eyes seeing Virgil standing in front of him. Virgil has his hands up in front of him in a reassuring manner as he walks closer.  
“You look tired Lo” Virgil keeps his voice calm and low.  
Logan hums and closes his eyes again. “Lots of emotions”  
“Ah, I see” Virgil nods “Do you want to come take a nap with me?”  
Logan nods again, keeping his eyes closed. Virgil grabs one of Logan’s hands and gently leads him to his bedroom. Virgil flops on the bed and pulls Logan down to curl up beside him. Logan rests his head on Virgil’s shoulder and Virgil wraps his arm around Logan.  
“Go to sleep Lo” Logan can feel Virgil’s voice vibrating through his body. The rise and fall of Virgil’s breathing lulls Logan to sleep.

A few weeks later finds the sides watching a movie in the living room. Logan is curled up with his head in Remus’ lap, and Remus is absentmindedly stroking Logan’s hair. Virgil is perched on the back of the couch behind Logan, his feet squished under Logan. Patton sits cross-legged on the couch his legs pressed against Logan’s.   
Roman walks into the room and when he sees the others, hesitates near the door. Logan looks up, noticing his hesitation he waves at Roman to come join them. Logan can hear Remus growling at Roman, and he pokes Remus in the leg, giving him a dirty look. Roman walks over, hovering nervously in front of the couch. Logan sighs, grabs his tunic and pulls him down to sit on the floor in front of the couch. Logan ruffles Roman’s hair and rests his hand on Roman’s head. Closing his eyes, feeling the warmth of the other sides around him, Logan relaxes.

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: Logan gets yeeted into the imagination, and gets lost. He hurts his ankle when a owl scares him. He panics a little but it kicks into high gear when Remus finds him but he doesn't recognize it as Remus. They talk, and Remus takes Logan back home, they redecorate and Logan sleeps.
> 
> Sources:  
> https://www.pnas.org/content/109/7/2418  
> https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/human_rabies.html  
> https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies
> 
> Please let me know if there's anything I should fix, just be kind.


End file.
